JP2004070885A - Customer authentication method, device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To authenticate a customer even if a client computer is restricted from transmitting a telephone number or an IP address, automatically search for and display the customer's personal information.
When a customer accesses a specific computer 1 from a computer 2 through a broadband network 3, the customer uses an imaging camera 22 provided in the computer 2 to photograph a part of his / her own face and obtain image information of the specific part. Send to computer 1. The specific computer 1 converts the characteristic portion of the received customer image into polygons, and compares data (feature amounts) obtained by digitizing the polygon data with the feature amounts of the customer images stored in the database. Authenticate the identity of the customer who sent the image.
[Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for authenticating a customer's identity when searching and displaying personal information of a customer of a client computer accessed via a network from a database.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art There is a CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) technology in which a private branch exchange or a public telephone network and a computer can cooperate with each other to automatically change a connection route of the exchange and control operation of a telephone from a computer. This CTI also has a function of linking a source telephone number notified from the public network with a database managed by a computer. This is because, when help desks and call centers accept corporate complaints and inquiries from corporate customers, calls are made based on this number unless the originating telephone number originating from the customer's phone is restricted. The customer's personal information is retrieved from its own database and displayed on the operator screen. As described above, by automatically displaying customer information on a company operator screen when a call is received, an effect of improving the company's ability to handle customers is expected.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional method for automatically searching and displaying customer information using CTI, if the source telephone number is restricted, search conditions cannot be selected, so that the customer information cannot be automatically searched in the database. Also, even if the barring of calling is canceled, if a customer calls from a destination, the preset calling phone number itself is different, so even in such a case, it is impossible to automatically search. . On the other hand, as a reverse case, when a user other than the original customer calls from a telephone whose source telephone number is registered (spoofing), there is no way to confirm the identity.
[0004]
Also, in the conventional CTI, telephones have been targeted. However, with the spread of Internet technology, it will be expected to be determined by an IP address when access is made from a personal computer terminal. However, if a proxy server is interposed in the customer's network, the source IP address becomes the IP address of the proxy server, so the IP address of the sending customer computer cannot be specified. Situation.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide a customer authentication method, apparatus, and program that can automatically search for customer information in a database even if the transmission of a telephone number or an IP address is restricted by a client computer.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The specific computer converts the image of the characteristic part of the face of the customer who operates each client computer into a polygon, and stores data obtained by digitizing the polygon data in a database in advance. When the customer accesses the specific computer, an image of the customer's face captured by the imaging camera installed on the customer's computer is transmitted to the specific computer in real time. The specific computer converts the characteristic part of the image sent from the customer's computer into polygons, digitizes the polygon data, and compares it with the data stored in the database, so that the customer who sent the image can Authenticate your identity as a legitimate customer. As soon as the identity is confirmed, the customer's personal information is retrieved from the database and displayed on the screen of a specific computer.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0008]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a customer information automatic search / display system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system connects a specific computer 1, a computer 2 having an imaging camera 22, and a computer such as an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Unit), a CATV (Cabel Television), and an FTTH (Fiber To The Home). It is composed of a network 3.
[0009]
The specific computer 1 is operated by a company operator such as a help desk or a call center. As shown in FIG. 2, the specific computer 1 communicates with a plurality of computers 2 each having an imaging camera, and converts the image of a characteristic portion of the customer's face of the computer 2 into polygons, and subdivides the polygon data. Image information management unit 12 that previously stores therein data obtained by digitizing the converted histogram, customer information management unit 13 that manages personal information of the customer, and image analysis that analyzes the customer image received from computer 2. The image information management unit 12 compares the analysis result (data) of the customer image transmitted from the computer 2 with the image analysis unit 14 to perform customer authentication processing. It has an authentication unit 15, a monitor unit 16 for displaying customer personal information, and a control unit 17 for controlling the units 11 to 16.
[0010]
The computer 2 equipped with an imaging camera is operated by a customer, and as shown in FIG. 3, has a communication unit 21 that communicates with a specific computer 1 and an imaging camera 22 that captures an image of the customer.
[0011]
In the situation where authentication security has become important with the development of the information society, personal information such as fingerprints and faces is considered to be an effective means for authentication and verification. This is considered to be more effective in that problems such as loss, theft, and forgotten password are eliminated as compared with authentication means such as a seal, an IC card, and a password. However, there are already authentication methods such as fingerprints and retinal patterns for collation, but these methods require a specific authentication device and cannot be said to be versatile means. Therefore, in this system, the face of an individual is treated as information for authentication.
[0012]
According to the customer information search / display system having the above-described configuration, a customer accesses a specific computer 1 from a computer 2 having an imaging camera through a broadband network 3. An image of the customer's own face is photographed using the camera 22, and this image information is transferred to the specific computer 1. In the specific computer 1, the analysis result (data) of the image information received by the authentication unit 15 by the image analysis unit 14 is compared with the customer image data managed by the image information management unit 12.
[0013]
The analysis of the received customer image information by the image analysis unit 14 is performed as follows. First, the received image is converted into a polygon centering on the contour, eyes, nose, and mouth position and shape, which are characteristic portions of the face. FIG. 4 shows an image of the polygon data. FIG. 4A shows an actual image, and FIG. 4B shows polygon data. Next, a histogram obtained by subdividing the polygon data is digitized (FIG. 5). Since one polygon is a plane, the feature amount changes depending on which part in the plane is selected as it is. Therefore, the feature amount per polygon (minimum unit) is calculated using the average value of the height of the center of gravity of one polygon or the height of the vertex of the polygon. It should be noted that the feature amounts per polygon may be combined and a series of numerical values may be used as the feature amount. The image information management unit 12 previously stores data (feature amounts) obtained by digitizing image information of a customer who operates the computer 2 by the image analysis unit 14 in the same procedure as described above. The authentication unit 15 uses the feature amount stored in the image information management unit 12 as authentication data. Each time the customer accesses the camera, he or she uses the imaging camera 22 to take his or her own image. Therefore, in the method of simply enlarging or reducing the received image data, a method of comparing the physical size with the image registered in the database is used. Differences matter. This is shown in FIG. However, in the data obtained by subdividing the polygon data, since the feature amount composed of a series of numerical values is unique data, the physical size of the captured image does not matter. This is shown in FIG. The smaller the subdivision unit of the polygon, the higher the security level, but conversely, even if it is an image of the person, authentication may fail. Therefore, a method may be considered in which the amount of change (differential value) of a continuous feature value is used as the authentication data instead of the exact coincidence of such continuous numerical values.
[0014]
When the identity is confirmed by the authentication, the control unit 17 of the specific computer 1 searches the customer information management unit 13 for the confirmed personal information of the customer. Finally, the control unit 17 of the specific computer 1 displays the personal information of the customer obtained by the search on the monitor unit 16 that operates the computer. Based on this personal information, the operator starts a service such as a complaint or an inquiry from a customer, which is provided in a normal help desk or a call center. Note that the authentication method of the present invention can be used together with personal information such as a user ID. The reason is that by obtaining the personal information before the authentication, the effect of reducing the time required for the authentication on the specific computer 1 can be expected. In the normal authentication, the transmitted digitized data of image information is compared with the digitized data of a huge amount of image information of a customer, but is stored in the image information management unit 12 by using personal information such as a user ID. This is because there is no need to collate with the digitized data of the image information of all customers.
[0015]
Note that, in addition to the authentication processing described above being realized by dedicated hardware, a program for realizing the function is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium is executed. It may be loaded into a computer system and executed. The computer-readable recording medium refers to a recording medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk device built in a computer system. Further, the computer-readable recording medium is one that dynamically holds the program for a short time (transmission medium or transmission wave), such as a case where the program is transmitted via the Internet, and serves as a server in that case. It also includes those that hold programs for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory inside a computer system.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the characteristic part of the transmitted customer image is converted into a polygon, quantified, and compared with the quantified data of the customer image information stored in the database. By performing authentication, the authentication process can be performed even if a plurality of computers equipped with imaging cameras are restricted from transmitting telephone numbers and IP addresses, and even if specific hardware such as a fingerprint authenticator is not in the vicinity. Can be realized. Further, since an IC card and a password are not required, it is possible to cope with loss or forgetting. After the authentication, the personal information of the customer can be displayed on the operator screen when the line is connected to the customer as in the case of the conventional CTI, so there is no need to ask the customer for the personal information. As a result, the response time can be shortened, and the effect of improving customer satisfaction with the company and reducing the operation time of the operator can be expected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a customer information automatic search / display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a specific computer 1.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer 2 including an imaging camera.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an actual video and an image obtained by converting the video into a polygon.
FIG. 5 is an image diagram in which unevenness of a histogram obtained by subdividing polygon data is digitized as a feature of a minimum polygon.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a problem of collation using image data.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of digitizing customer image data.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Specific computer 2 Computer equipped with imaging camera 3 Broadband network 11 Communication unit 12 Image management unit 13 Customer information management unit 14 Image analysis unit 15 Authentication unit 16 Monitor unit 17 Control unit 21 Communication unit 22 Imaging camera

Claims (3)

A customer authentication method for authenticating the identity of the customer when searching and displaying the personal information of the customer of a client computer who has accessed a specific computer via a network from a database,
The image of the characteristic part of the face of the customer who operates each of the client computers is polygonized, and the data obtained by digitizing the polygon data is stored in a database in advance,
Receiving an image of the customer's face portion taken by the imaging camera when the customer accesses the specific computer and transmitted in real time through the network;
A customer who authenticates the identity of the customer who transmitted the image by converting the characteristic portion of the received customer image into polygons and comparing the digitized polygon data with data stored in the database. Authentication method. A specific computer that retrieves personal information of a customer of a client computer accessed through a network from customer information data and displays it on a screen,
An image of a characteristic portion of the customer's face of each client computer is converted into a polygon, and a database storing data obtained by digitizing polygon data is stored in advance, and an image is captured by an imaging camera when the customer accesses the specific computer. Means for receiving an image of the face portion of the customer transmitted in real time via the network;
A customer authentication unit having means for authenticating the identity of the customer by converting a characteristic portion of the received customer image into polygons and comparing the digitized polygon data with data stored in the database; apparatus. A client authentication program for causing a computer to execute the authentication of the identity of the client when searching and displaying the personal information of the client of the client computer that has accessed a specific computer via a network, and displaying the personal information.
A step of receiving an image of the face portion of the customer transmitted by the customer in real time through the network, taking an image by an imaging camera when the customer accesses the specific computer;
The characteristic part of the received customer image is converted into polygons, and the data obtained by digitizing the polygon data is converted into a polygon of the characteristic part image of the customer's face operating each of the client computers, and the polygon data is converted into numerical data. A customer authentication program having a procedure of authenticating the identity of the customer who transmitted the image by comparing the data with data in a database storing the data.

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